About RTL Crime

RTL Crime

RTL Crime is a German pay-TV channel owned by the RTL Group — the crime-and-action series channel in RTL Deutschland's pay-TV portfolio. Launched on 1 December 2006 and based in Cologne, its programming centres on action and crime series: the procedurals, thrillers, and investigations that define the genre. Distributed via Sky Deutschland, cable, and IPTV across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, the channel has been rebranded twice — in November 2015 and September 2021 — and extended with an HD simulcast, serving the German-speaking crime-series audience for nearly two decades.

Overview

RTL Crime (stylised RTL CRIME since 15 September 2021) is RTL Deutschland's genre channel for crime and action: the series about investigations, the thrillers about pursuit, the procedurals about justice. The channel's programming is centred on action and crime series — German and international — dubbed for the DACH audience.

The channel launched on 1 December 2006 alongside its siblings RTL Living (lifestyle) and Passion (then Passion, now RTL Passion) — RTL's three-channel pay-TV entertainment bouquet. The trio segmented the series audience: crime for the thriller fan, living for the lifestyle viewer, passion for the drama audience.

RTL Crime broadcasts in German and English (dual audio) in HDTV 1080i (downscaled to 576i for SDTV), across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. It is part of RTL Deutschland's pay-TV offering alongside RTL Living, RTL Passion, and GEO Television.

History

The channel launched on 1 December 2006 — one of three RTL pay-TV channels debuting together (RTL Living and Passion alongside). The launch gave RTL a scripted-entertainment pay-TV presence: the crime genre's dedicated channel in the German market.

Distribution grew through the pay-TV platforms: since 1 October 2007, RTL Crime has been carried on Sky Deutschland — the satellite platform giving the channel its broadest reach. On 15 May 2012, the channel launched its HD simulcast, initially carried on Unitymedia; on 25 September 2014, RTL Crime HD launched on Sky Deutschland; since 1 August 2017, the HD feed has been available on Kabel Deutschland (Vodafone) in the "HD Premium" package.

The channel also travelled: on 1 September 2011, a localised feed launched in the Netherlands — RTL Crime's Dutch edition, with Dutch/English audio and Dutch subtitles (that operation has since moved to different ownership, now under DPG Media).

Rebrands marked the channel's visual evolution: on 1 October 2015, RTL Group announced the relaunch and redesign of its three pay-TV channels — RTL Living, RTL Crime, and Passion — effective 12 November 2015, with new channel logos. On 15 September 2021, as part of Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland's comprehensive rebranding, RTL Crime was rebranded alongside RTL Living, RTL Passion, and the parent RTL channel — adopting the multi-colourful logo replacing the earlier designs.

Programming and Content

RTL Crime's programming is the crime genre, comprehensively: police procedurals, detective series, action-crime dramas, thrillers, and true-crime formats. The schedule draws on international series — the US procedurals, the British crime dramas — and German productions, dubbed or originally in German.

The genre focus gives the channel its identity: the evening's investigation, the season's case, the series' detectives. Crime is television's most durable scripted genre — the procedural's episodic satisfaction, the serial's long arc — and RTL Crime programmes it around the clock.

The dual-audio offering (German and English) serves the original-language viewers: the fans who prefer the English original to the dub. The HD simulcast presents the genre in high definition: the night-time city, the forensic detail, the action sequence — the crime aesthetic in full quality.

Coverage and Audience

RTL Crime broadcasts in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland via Sky Deutschland (since October 2007), cable networks (Unitymedia/Vodafone, Kabel Deutschland), and IPTV — a pay-TV channel within subscription packages, with the HD feed in premium tiers.

The audience is the crime-series fan: the viewers who follow the procedurals, the thriller audience, the "Tatort"-adjacent public seeking the international crime drama. Germany's crime-fiction culture — the Sunday-night "Tatort" ritual, the bestselling crime novels — gives the genre channel a deep audience well.

The channel competes in the German pay-crime segment: alongside 13th Street (NBCUniversal), Warner TV Serie, AXN Black, and Sony's former channels — the scripted-crime market's multiple contenders. RTL Crime's advantage is the RTL brand: the parent channel's crime-series heritage (from "Alarm für Cobra 11" to the imported procedurals) transferred to the genre channel.

Ownership

RTL Crime is owned by the RTL Group, operated by RTL Deutschland — based in Cologne, Germany. RTL Deutschland operates the free-to-air channels RTL Television, VOX, RTLup, RTL Nitro, VOXup, and n-tv (plus a significant RTLZWEI stake) alongside the pay-TV channels RTL Crime, RTL Living, RTL Passion, and GEO Television, plus the RTL+ streaming service — one of Europe's largest commercial broadcasting operations.

The 2006 Triple Launch

The 1 December 2006 debut — three channels at once — was RTL's pay-TV statement: the free-to-air leader building a subscription bouquet. RTL Living (trends, lifestyle, life, travel), RTL Crime (action and crime series), and Passion (soap operas, telenovelas, dramas) divided the entertainment audience three ways.

The triple launch's logic was the bundle: the subscriber getting three genre channels, the household's tastes covered. Nearly two decades on, the trio endures — rebranded twice, distributed widely, the RTL pay-TV core.

The Dutch extension (2011) showed the concept's portability: the crime channel localised for the Netherlands. The German channel remains the original: the Cologne-based crime outlet, on air since 2006.

Rebrands: 2015 and 2021

The November 2015 relaunch — new logos and graphics for RTL Living, RTL Crime, and Passion — refreshed the trio's identity: the channels' visual language updated for the high-definition era. The square-less Passion logo, the redesigned Crime and Living identities — the pay-TV bouquet's new face.

The September 2021 rebrand was more comprehensive: Mediengruppe RTL Deutschland's restructuring brought a new multi-colourful logo system — the parent RTL's red-yellow-blue extended to the pay-TV channels. RTL CRIME's stylised capitals, RTL Living's and RTL Passion's matching identities — the group look, unified.

The rebrands reflect the channels' longevity: on air long enough to need visual renewal, established enough to warrant the investment. The 2021 system — the colourful RTL family — positions the pay-TV channels within the group's streaming-era identity.

The German Crime Culture

Germany's crime-fiction culture is the channel's tailwind: the Sunday-night "Tatort" ritual — the longest-running television drama in German history — the bestselling crime novels, the regional detective beloved nationwide. Crime is Germany's television genre above all: the investigation as national pastime.

RTL Crime rides this culture with the international complement: the American procedurals, the British detectives, the thrillers beyond the German productions. The viewer who watches "Tatort" on Sunday finds the week's other investigations on RTL Crime: the crime culture, around the clock.

The Thriller's Primetime

The primetime thriller is RTL Crime's showcase: the evening's feature investigation, the week's most intense series, the season's arc at its peak. The channel's primetime is programmed for the crime fan's night: the lights low, the case unfolding, the commercial breaks endured.

This primetime ownership defines the channel's brand: RTL Crime as the evening's destination for suspense. The daytime carries the procedural repeats; the night carries the thrills — the channel's day built toward its dark, gripping peak.

Digital Presence

RTL Crime's digital presence includes its programme listings (rtl-crime.de) and the RTL+ streaming service, which carries the group's content. The channel's schedules appear in electronic programme guides across Sky, cable, and IPTV platforms.

RTL Deutschland's digital ecosystem — rtl.de, the RTL+ platform — supports the pay-TV channels' discoverability. For German-speaking crime fans, RTL Crime is the genre's RTL: action and crime series — the investigations, the thrillers — on pay-TV since 2006.